NJPW G1 Special In San Francisco Results And Reaction

Hello friends and welcome to the G1 Special in San Francisco show results, the first New Japan show in America that’s not in the Los Angeles area. Maybe one day we’ll get a New Japan show in America that’s not in California? Well anyway if you missed the show on AXS I got you covered.

The show is from the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Due to time constraints and system issues the first 7 matches will be courtesy of Bryan Rose from the F4WOnline.com.

Guerillas of Destiny, Meng, Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens vs. Roppongi 3K, Rocky Romero, YOSHI-HASHI and Gedo

Haku and YOSHI-HASHI started things off. Heels isolated Romero, working him over. Haku even planted him on the mat with a piledriver. He came back by taking out Owens and Takahashi and tagged in Yoh for the hot tag.

It boiled down to Gedo and Tama Tonga. Gedo had Tonga down but Meng came in and applied the Tongan death grip. He threw Gedo to Tonga, who laid him out with the gun stun for the win. Pretty good opener, did exactly what was needed.

Winners: Bullet Club at 9:20.

Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr.

Minoru Suzuki/Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano/Zack Sabre Jr. paired off here. Yano was very over with the crowd and was into all of his stalling and other gimmicks. Sabre and Suzuki worked over Yano, rolling around and both applying submissions at the same time.

NJPW G1 SPECIAL IN SAN FRANCISCO LIVE RESULTS: KENNY OMEGA VS. CODY
BY BRYAN ROSE | @BR26 | JUL 7, 2018 4:57 PM
TWITTERFACEBOOKGOOGLE+

A big Bullet Club confrontation, along with a number of high profile title matches headline tonight’s G1 in San Francisco event at the historic Cow Palace arena.

Kenny Omega will defend his newly won IWGP Heavyweight title against someone that’s been a thorn on his side for most of this year, Cody. The two have butted heads over the leadership of the Bullet Club, and after a win by Cody at Supercard of Honor Omega looks to even the score tonight.

Other big title matches tonight include Jay White defending the IWGP United States title against Juice Robinson, Hiromu Takahashi defending the IWGP Jr. title against Dragon Lee in what promises to be a spectacle, The Young Bucks defending the IWGP tag team titles in a rematch against former champions EVIL and SANADA and Hirooki Goto defending the NEVER Openweight title against Jeff Cobb.

Join us for live coverage tonight starting at 8 p.m. ET. The show will air live on AXS TV and on New Japan World for subscribers outside the United States. The show will appear on demand for US viewers at a later date.

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Guerillas of Destiny, Meng, Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens defeated Roppongi 3K, Rocky Romero, YOSHI-HASHI and Gedo

Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano defeated Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr.

Ishii was tagged back in as the two struck each other hard with shots. Suzuki took Ishii down. They tagged in their partners, with Yano undoing the turnbuckle. It turned into a wild brawl. Yano tried to low blow Sabre, but Sabre used his leg strength to block it. He turned around and was right in the line of fire for Ishii’s lariat. Yano followed up with a cradle for the win.

Solid match, weird finish. I wonder where they’re going here with this result. Ishii and Suzuki have been feuding a lot in recent months.

Winners: Chaos at 9:42

Hangman Page and Marty Scurll vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi and KUSHIDA

Heavyweights and junior heavyweights paired off with one another. They targeted KUSHIDA early with a superkick on the apron followed by Page’s shooting star shoulder block. Page and Scurll work really well as a tag team.

Lots of great back and forth action. It boils down to KUSHIDA and Page. The latter tried for the Rite of Passage but KUSHIDA countered with a roll up. Page cut him off again, then after a tilt-a-whirl transitioned into the Rite of Passage and connected for the win. I liked this a lot, all four guys are great and Page and Scurll in particular came off as a very polished tag team.

Winners: Bullet Club at 10:00

NEVER Openweight Championship Title Match
Hirooki Goto(c) vs. Jeff Cobb

Cobb launched Goto with a giant belly to belly. Goto takes down Cobb and grinds him with a headscissors lock. Cobb fres back with a dropkick and a giant spinning backdrop suplex.

Cobb hit a delayed fireman’s carry slam and went for a standing moonsault but Goto rolled out of the way. After some back and forth, Cobb connected with a giant lariat and the standing moonsault for a nearfall. Goto countered and went for a sleeper. He rallied back, laying out Cobb with the ushigoroshi. He soon followed with the GTR for the win.

Weird match. I felt like it was building well, then it just ended in the most anti-climatic manner possible. I’ve seen way better Cobb and Goto matches this year, and this was ok, but felt way too short.

Winner: Hirooki Goto at 12:10

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match
Evil and Sanada vs. The Young Bucks(c)

Good back and forth early. SANADA put Nick in the Paradise lock as he and EVIL worked him over. Bucks made a great comeback. EVIL and SANADA laid out Nick with the Magic Killer for a nearfall.

The Bucks went for a superkick on EVIL but instead struck the referee. EVIL laid them out and introduced a chair that soon wound up on EVIL’s face. SANADA came in, however, and together the two hit an assisted spike tombstone on Matt. They followed with another magic killer, but he kicked out.

Nick came back in and the two started to make their comeback. They took out SANADA with a superkick then took out EVIL with the Meltzer Driver for the win. A pretty good title match. Bucks looked great tonight, both in selling and execution.

Winners: The Young Bucks at 16:05

Tetsuya Naito and Bushi vs. Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay

Okada came out to a new remixed version of his theme song. He also didn’t have his robe and had new pants.

Like in the previous match, heavyweights and junior heavyweights paired off. Okada was tagged in and went after Naito, launching off with a big crossbody. Naito cut him off and went for the Destino but Okada blocked it and went for a tombstone. Both escaped from various signature moves until Okada plants Naito with a neck kneebreaker.

BUSHI and Ospreay were in the ring. Okada took out Naito as Ospreay started to build momentum after avoiding the MX. He connected with the stormbreaker for the win. A good tag team match with some fun interactions between Okada and Naito.

Winners: Chaos at 11:58

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match
Dragon Lee vs. Hiromu Takahashi(c)

Dragon Lee started off hot coming of with a huge dive to the floor, wiping out Hiromu on the outside. Dragon Lee controlled the match until Hiromu sent Lee to the outside and hit a huge running dropkick into the barricade. He followed with a giant senton to the floor.

The two ended up perched on the top rope. Hiromu hovered over the apron as Lee hit a giant foot stomp that sent them both tumbling out of the ring. They beat the count and soon after start trading some crazy German suplexes. They keep trading over and over until finally Hiromu breaks the cycle with a lariat.

NJPW G1 SPECIAL IN SAN FRANCISCO LIVE RESULTS: KENNY OMEGA VS. CODY
BY BRYAN ROSE | @BR26 | JUL 7, 2018 4:57 PM
TWITTERFACEBOOKGOOGLE+

A big Bullet Club confrontation, along with a number of high profile title matches headline tonight’s G1 in San Francisco event at the historic Cow Palace arena.

**********

Guerillas of Destiny, Meng, Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens defeated Roppongi 3K, Rocky Romero, YOSHI-HASHI and Gedo

Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano defeated Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr.

Solid match, weird finish. I wonder where they’re going here with this result. Ishii and Suzuki have been feuding a lot in recent months.

Hangman Page and Marty Scurll defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and KUSHIDA

Hirooki Goto defeated Jeff Cobb to retain the NEVER Openweight title

Cobb launched Goto with a giant belly to belly. Goto takes down Cobb and grinds him with a headscissors lock. Cobb fres back with a dropkick and a giant spinning backdrop suplex.

The Young Bucks defeated SANADA and EVIL to retain the IWGP tag team titles

Good back and forth early. SANADA put Nick in the Paradise lock as he and EVIL worked him over. Bucks made a great comeback. EVIL and SANADA laid out Nick with the Magic Killer for a nearfall.

Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay defeated Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI

Okada came out to a new remixed version of his theme song. He also didn’t have his robe and had new pants.

Hiromu Takahashi defeated Dragon Lee to retain the IWGP Jr. title

Some vicious exchanges between the two leads to a belly to belly by Hiromu into the turnbuckle. Lee came back with a standing spanish fly. Hiromu catches Lee in a triangle. Lee struggles to break free, deadlifting him and dumping him head first on the floor in a super scary spot. I have no idea how he didn’t break his neck from that.

Lee lifted him up for the powerbomb but Hiromu countered with a Canadian destroyer. He then followed with the time bomb for the win. Just as crazy and incredible as one would expect. I think a couple of their bouts were better in terms of heat, but this was still a completely crazy match.

Winner: Hiromu Takahashi at 16:18. The big news coming out of this match is Takahashi suffered a broken neck. I don’t know much more than that but that’s about as serious as it comes.

Alright I’m taking the hot tag and I’ll finish up the review from here.

IWGP United States Championship Match
Juice Robinson vs. Switchblade Jay White(c)

During the introductions it’s announced that if Juice uses his cast as a weapon he can be disqualified. As soon as the bell rings, Juice charges White and lands some mounted punches. They make their way to the outside and Juice sends White crashing through the guardrail. Back in the ring Juice works over White in the corner but White hits Juice with a backdrop over the top rope.

On the outside White returns the favor and sends Juice crashing into the guardrail. White then launches Juice into another guardrail, so hard that the rail created sparks as it slid on the concrete. Back in the ring, White goes for a cover but only gets a 2. White then starts to target the injured hand of Juice.

The crowd is super hot for the match and Jay White is getting some major heat. Thus far, this is the best I’ve seen of Jay White, he doesn’t work as a tweener, as he’s been portrayed, but he’s a great heel. White continues to work over Juice as he plays to the crowd. Juice temporarily gets an advantage but runs into a flatliner from White who follows up with the German suplex for a 2.

The match again spills to the outside and White suplexes Juice into a guardrail in front of the announce table which knocks Jim Ross out of his chair. Barnett then gets up to confront White about it but is held back by security. Juice is able to take back a bit of momentum with a spine buster on the apron. Both men make it to the apron and White hits Juice with a modified flatliner on the apron.

Again both men are on the apron and Juice avoids a German suplex off the apron and hits a side Russian leg sweep onto the floor. Both men break the count by 19 to make it back int the ring. Juice gets White to the top rope and hits a superplex for a 2. Juice goes for Pulp Friction but White counters it with a head scissors and repeated elbows to the head, which he continues even after Juice gets to the ropes.

White goes for a Blade Runner, Juice reverses and tries for a Pulp Friction, White shoves Juice off and hits a low blow as the ref missed it to avoid the collision. White charges Juice, Juice sidesteps and the ref again ducks out of the way as Juice drills White with his cast and follows up with the Pulp Friction but only a 2. Juice tries another Pulp Friction but White punches the hand and hits a pair of half nelson suplexes. White goes for the Blade Runner but Juice counters it with a roll up for the 3.

Winner and new IWGP United States Champion: Juice Robinson at 23:22. A very good match that really made Juice look like a star. The crowd was super hot, White got a ton of heat especially after knocking down JR.

IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match
Cody with Brandi Rhodes and Bernard the Business Bear vs. Kenny Omega(c) with the Young Bucks

The match starts off with both guys feeling each other out. After a great deal of back and forth action, Cody gets the upper hand with a power slam for 2. Omega comes back with the Kotaro Krusher which sends Cody to the outside. Omega sets up for the Rise of the Terminator but Cody pulls Brandi in front of him. Omega tries a plancha but nobody home. Cody comes back with the top rope splash to the outside.

Cody sends Omega into the guardrail. Omega comes back and sends Cody over the guardrail and onto a table. Omega then leaps off the guardrail and onto the table doing a double stomp through the table. Omega grabs another table and sets it up on the outside. Omega puts Cody on the table and teases a springboard but the Bucks plead with Omega to not do it.

As Omega pulls Cody back into the ring, Cody slips in a DDT and covers the champ for a 2. Cody is now in control as he applies a cravat. Omega gets free and sends Cody to the outside with a hurricanrana. Cody flips the table that was previously set up over as Omega nails him with a Rise of the Terminator. Back in the ring Omega drills Cody with a missile dropkick. Omega hits 2 V Triggers and follows it up with a Dragon Rush suplex. Omega tries another but Cody gets out of it and hits one of his own.

Cody is able to counter a sunset flip from Omega and locks in a figure four. After both men exchange slaps, Omega turns the hold over but Cody makes it to the ropes. On the outside, Omega pulls out a ladder from under the ring as Cody pulls out a chair. Omega puts the ladder in the ring, draping it on the second rope but turns his back to Cody who slams Omega onto the ladder.

Both men end up on the outside as Cody hits Omega with a face first suplex onto the ladder that was hanging out of the ring. Cody ends Omega into the guardrail and sets the table up again. Cody sets the ladder up inside the ring and puts Omega over the table. Matt tries to stop Cody but Cody knocks him down. Cody climbs the ladder but Omega follows. Omega teases a suplex to the outside but the Bucks urge him not to as Cody hits a big time superplex from the top of the ladder back into the ring.

Cody only gets a 2 as he can only manage to drape an arm over the chest of Omega. Cody heads to the outside and grabs the IWGP title and brings it into the ring. Red Shoes grabs the belt as Omega hits a reverse rana to the challenger. Omega tries for an One Winged Angel but Cody fights out of it and hits the Disaster Kick. Cody then hits a Cross Rhodes for a close 2.

The Bucks managed to pull the ladder out of the ring, Omega manages to drill two V Triggers and goes for the One Winged Angel again but Cody gets free. Omega shoves Cody into the corner, hits a V Trigger, then a power bomb for 2. Cody is hit with 3 more V Triggers but only for a 2 count. Omega tries for a One Winged Angel, gets Cody up but Cody spins to the front in a power bomb position so Omega power bombs Cody to the outside onto the table which doesn’t break just kinda tipped over.

Omega rolled Cody back into the ring and sets up for a V Trigger but Brandi rolls into the ring covering Cody. Cody shoves her off and tells Omega to bring it on. Omega hits the ropes but runs into a lariat. Both men exchange forearms but Omega gets the better of the exchange and hits a double underhook piledriver for 2. Omega then hits a One Winged Angel for 3.

Winner: Kenny Omega at 34:14. A very good match that told a fun story. Neither man got the advantage for very long but Omega was the decisive winner as he should have been.

After the match Omega shakes Cody’s hand who was still laying on the mat at the time. Omega then gets on the mic and says he’s proud his first title defense was in such a legendary building. Omega says he knows a lot of people will be trying to knock him down then put over Cody saying his effort was nothing short of valiant. Omega does the goodbye and goodnight line and heads up the ramp. Haku and his sons greet Omega at the top and congratulate Omega. All the men two sweet each other as the GOD attack Omega and the Bucks. Tama Tonga targets Omega specifically and the GOD take off their shirts to reveal their new name, “The Firing Squad.” The Firing Squad attack Omega and the Bucks, as Page comes out but he’s easily stopped. Marty Scurll comes out but he’s taken out as well. Owens and Takahashi come out and try to make peace but they’re taken out as well. The Tongans stand tall after destroying the Bullet Club.

After the destruction, Cody hobbles to the ring. Tama Tonga hands Cody a chair who uses it on the Tongans but Tama Tonga quickly hits a Gun Stun. Haku then hits Cody with a piledriver onto a chair. The Firing Squad exit as Cody and Omega make it to their feet in the ring and hug. It should be noted both Josh and JR speculated Bad Luck Fale will possibly be siding with the Firing Squad but that remains to be seen, I mean he should be.

Overall a good show with a huge storyline at the end to really change things up. Hope everyone enjoyed the review and thanks for reading. I’ll be back with G1 coverage throughout the following month.